Car Wash assistant judges authorised to resume approval of Odebrecht testimonies

Chief Justice Cármen Lúcia of Brazil's Supreme Court has authorised assistant judges who had been working with the late Justice Teori Zavascki to resume formal proceedings as of today (Jan 24), to examine plea bargain statements heard from Odebrecht building giant executives in the “Car Wash” corruption investigation.

Justice Zavascki was the judge in charge of the Car Wash case in the Supreme Court. He interrupted his court holidays to examine 77 plea bargain statements heard from Odebrecht executives and admit them as evidence in the Car Wash probe, but he died in a plane crash last Thursday (19).

Zavascki had already authorised his assistant judges to begin hearing the whistleblowers to verify that they had made their statements as part of more than 800 testimonies heard by the Federal Prosecution Service (MPF) out of free will. This is a formal step in the proceedings.

On Monday (23), Justice Cármen Lúcia met with Prosecutor-General Rodrigo Janot, who has the authority to request the Car Wash statements be dealt with as a matter of urgency. During the court holidays, she can authorise emergency actions on proceedings pending before the Supreme Court.

The contents of the Odebrecht files are keenly anticipated by the society and especially the political establishment, and based on prior leaks in the case, expected to implicate dozens of politicians in the Petrobras corruption scandal.

Translated by Mayra Borges